


Miraculous Meetings on the Hogwarts Express

by rainforestgeek



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is part veela, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Gen, Muggleborn Marinette, Pre-Relationship, like guys they're eleven of course it's pre-relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 19:11:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20179297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainforestgeek/pseuds/rainforestgeek
Summary: Adrien's finally on his way to Hogwarts. On the train he meets a sweet muggleborn who needs a new friend as much as he does.(In which the author can't not do a Hogwarts AU.)





	Miraculous Meetings on the Hogwarts Express

“Adrien.” Gabriel Agreste called out his son’s name as he was about to step onto the train. Adrien turned to be greeted with his father's hands on his shoulders and steel-colored eyes boring holes into his soul. He received no further warning than that before being pulled into a rare, rare hug. Adrien froze for a second then relaxed into the embrace.

Far too soon Mr. Agreste pulled away. “Be good, son.”

“I will, Father.” He gave him one last smile then stepped onto the train.

He opened a door behind which sat a small girl with pink ribbons in her black pigtails. She wore muggle clothing and sat curled up in her seat, staring out the window. An unusually red tawny owl was perched on her knee.

“Hey.”

His voice made her start. “Um. Hi.”

“Do you mind if I join you?”

“Sure, yeah. No! That is I don’t mind, I mean - go ahead?” The girl’s cheeks went pink and she seemed to shrink into herself even more. Adrien guessed she was a muggle-born; she was alone, clearly nervous, and seemed pretty out of her element.

He smiled and took the seat opposite her. “Thanks. I’m Adrien, by the way.”

“Marinette. Nice to meet you, Adrien.” She put her feet down and stuck her hand out. He shook it.

“Likewise, Marinette. So, are you excited to finally see Hogwarts?”

“I guess so. This is all so new to me I don’t really know what to expect. My parents are, well, they don’t have magic, you see.” So he was right. “I guess you grew up waiting to go to Hogwarts, huh?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

“I thought I heard some other kids talking about houses? I thought we were going to live in a castle.”

Adrien grinned. “Houses as in groups inside the school. A house is kind of like one big team, and they compete against each other. You get sorted into a house depending on your personality.”

Marinette’s eyebrows scrunched together in concern. “The professors separate us then pit us against each other?”

“I - I think it’s more like having a place to belong even on the first day of school. Each house is named after one of the Hogwarts founders: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Everyone in my family has been a Gryffindor for generations.”

Marinette hummed thoughtfully. Before she had a chance to respond, another girl opened the compartment door. She wore muggle clothes too, but the button-down oxford and jogging pants combination clashed so that it was clear she grew up in witch’s robes. She had rich red-brown hair, soft ochre skin, and a cute mole above her right eyebrow that made her look permanently sassy. She had an owl cage tucked under her arm and dark-rimmed glasses threatening to slide off her nose.

She blinked at Adrien before remembering how to speak.“Oh, thank god, all the other compartments are _packed. _Can my friend and I join you?”

Adrien looked to Marinette, who said, “Of course. Are you a first year, too?”

“Yep. I’m Alya - one sec.” She leaned out the door into the corridor. “Nino! I found a place!” 

She sat down, and another boy came in right behind her, already wearing black wizard’s robes. “Thank you so much, dudes. We barely got on the train before it started moving.” He held out his hand to Adrien, who was closest to him. “I’m Nino, by the way.”

He shook it, smiling, and ignored the way Nino's eyes lingered awkwardly on his face. “Adrien. And this is Marinette.” Marinette gave a shy little wave.

“Whoa, sweet bird, dudette. I’ve only seen a color like that a few times before!” Nino switched seats so he was closer to Marinette and held out a finger. “May I?”

“Sure.” Nino stroked the owl’s head delicately. It closed its eyes contentedly.

“She likes you.”

“What’s her name?” Alya asked.

“I’ve been calling her Tikki. Is that a dumb name for an owl? I’m sorry this is all new to me.”

“Nah. I once heard of an owl called Pigwidgen. You said new? Are you a muggleborn?”

“Uh, yes, yes I am.”

“Well don’t worry,” Alya wrapped an arm around Marinette’s shoulders, making her smile. “We’ll get you all caught up, right boys?”

They both responded in the affirmative. Marinette responded, “Adrien’s been telling me about the Hogwarts houses.”

“Oh yeah? Have a guess where you’ll be sorted, pretty boy?”

Adrien sighed. Alya’s face and voice made the teasing sound friendly, but he’d long since tired of that nickname. “As far as I know my whole ancestry's Gryffindor.”

“Dude same for mine and Hufflepuff.” Nino gently shoulder bumped him. “Maybe we’ll break the pattern.”

Alya snorted. “Nino if you’re not a Hufflepuff I’ll eat my wand.”

“Why’re you so sure?” Marinette asked.

“Hufflepuff is the most inclusive house. The founder only wanted her students to work hard and be fair, and Nino’s scolded me for taking a spoonful of his ice cream.”

“If you wanted a double scoop then you should have bought a double scoop!”

"What are the other houses good at?" Marinette asked.

"Um," Alya looked at the ceiling and counted on her fingers, "we covered Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw's the house of geniuses, Gryffindors are super brave, and Slytherins are...uhh..."

"Ambitious," Adrien suggested. Alya snapped her fingers and pointed at him in the affirmative.

"Yeah Slytherin wanted kids who'd do anything to get what they want," Nino added. "Some people call it the 'evil house' but that's not really fair."

"I"ll say," Alya agreed. "My grandparents are Slytherins and they run the best ice cream shop in Diagon Alley. Awwww, who's this cutie?" She leaned forward to peer at the tiny black head that popped out of Adrien's satchel. The kitten sniffed the outstretched finger Alya offered him for several seconds, slipped out of the bag, and turned his tail on her in favor of tapping Adrien's arm with his paw and just a _little _bit of claw. He rubbed at his head and the cat purred loudly.

"This is Plagg. Don't let him fool you, he's a demanding little pig."

"Oh you're so lucky, I've always wanted a cat." Marinette's comment earned her a nip on the earlobe from her owl. "Ouch! Don't worry, Tikki, you'll always be my favorite."

"Cats are great companionship, but if you want to write home an owl is much more useful. Hogwarts doesn't exactly do muggle mail," Alya assured her.

The compartment door slammed open, startling them all. A girl with brand new, jet black robes, red earrings, and a high blonde ponytail posed in the doorway. Unfortunately, Adrien recognized her as Chloe Bourgeois, and old family friend.

“Adrikins! Where’ve you been? I’ve been looking all over for you. Sabrina and I have a compartment farther up the train. Let’s go, no need to hang out with these losers.”

Marinette folded back into a ball, making her body as small as possible. Nino glowered, and Alya crossed her arms. “Watch who you’re calling loser, you brat.”

Chloe gasped. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Chloe - ” Adrien tried. But she interrupted him.

“My daddy is the Minister of Magic, for your information!”

“Oh who cares?” Startled, Adrien looked to see Marinette clasp her hands over her mouth, apparently just as surprised by her outburst as he was.

Chloe sneered. “If you know what’s good for you, you should. He’s the most powerful wizard in Britain.”

“Most influential, maybe,” Adrien said.

“Et tu, Adrikins?”

Marinette huffed. “Just get out of here. No matter who you are, you don’t get to talk to us like that!”

“Ugh. I’m over this dumb compartment. Let’s go, Adrien.”

Adrien glanced between his oldest - and only - friend, and the three kids who’d been friendlier with him in five minutes than Chloe had in five years. “I think I’m staying. You go ahead.”

“Fine.” She huffed off and the compartment door slid shut on her wake.

Alta crossed her arms. “That girl’s a piece of work.”

“She’s a lot.”

“Let me guess: she’s sweet once you get to know her?”

Adrien thought for a second then shook his head. "Not really, no." A faint call in the corridor from the sweets trolley witch reached his ears and he jumped up. “Trolley’s coming, you guys want anything? My treat.”

Marinette and Nino started.

“Oh no you don’t have to - ”

“ - I’ve got a little pocket money here - ”

“Are you two seriously turning down free candy? Guys, he’s offering!” Alya looked perplexed.

Adrien opened the door. “I’ll just get a bit of everything.” He was out before they could make any more protests. Adrien figured they should introduce Marinette to as many wizard of sweets as they could.

As it turned out, Marinette loved the licorice wands but was appalled by the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.

“Why on _earth_ would anyone want a glass-flavored sweet?” she exclaimed. Adrien hid his chuckle behind his hand.

Alya shook the box, peering inside. “It’s about the dare. And pranking your siblings. I convinced my little sister that a dirt-flavored bean was chocolate. I swear, she was so mad, pink sparks burst out of her ears.”

“Speaking of,” Nino scooped up a couple chocolate frogs, tossing one to Marinette. Adrien had just stuffed his fourth into his mouth. “You gotta try these, they’re the best chocolate in the world and they come with collector cards!”

Besides the ribbeting noises while she swallowed, she seemed to like the chocolate frogs a lot more. She examined the that came inside. “Ooooh, I’ve heard of her! I got Morgana. She was a real witch?”

“As real as a salty ghost,” Alya replied. Marinette gazed in wonder at the card in her hands. Adrien gathered his chocolate frog cards and held them out to her.

“Here, you can have mine, I don’t collect them.”

Her face flushed. “Oh. Oh! Um, th-thanks Adrien that’s sweet really. I mean, that’s really sweet, thank you.” She grabbed them from his outstretched hand and huddled back into her seat. For the thousandth time Adrien cursed his Veela great-grandmother. He didn’t want a cute, nice girl getting nervous around him just because of how he looked.

Marinette was rifling through her chocolate frog cards. “There are witches and wizards on here from throughout history...some are even still alive...why are they all wearing the same thing?”

Nino frowned. “Huh?”

“Look at the chocolate frog cards, the robes hardly change at all. Isn’t fashion a thing in the wizarding world?”

“Of course it is,” Alya said. “It’s just not as finicky as muggle fashion.”

“The clothes just never change...that’s so odd...”

“Wizards are very traditional,” Adrien explained. “Magical artists and designers tend to focus on preserving our cultures and histories.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean you can’t accessorize a bit,” Marinette pointed out. “There’s so much potential here. I wonder if I could get a dress form at Hogwarts...”

She pulled a sketchpad out of her purse and began drawing. They were rough, quick sketches, but Adrien could tell the moves were well practiced. With a few strokes of a...not a quill, what’s that writing thing called?...whatever it was, a few quick lines and he could see the clothes she imagined like a projection from her mind.

Adrien noticed Marinette worked with the tip of her pink tongue sticking out the corner of her moth. He decided he definitely wanted to be her friend.

* * *

Adrien had been called up first for the sorting, and had been sitting with the deliberating old hat on his head for ages. Marinette checked her watch. Six minutes had gone by. “Is this normal?”

“No.” Alya sounded fascinated. “If the sorting takes longer than five minutes we call it a ‘hatstall.’ It’s supposed to be incredibly rare.”

“I wonder which houses he’s deciding between.”

“I don’t know. That boy’s hard to get a read on.”

Her watch was approaching the six minutes and thirty second mark when she heard the hat boom out its choice. “HUFFLEPUFF!”

Alya snorted. “Chloe does not look happy.”

Marinette watched Adrien find a place among his new house mates. They hugged him and ruffled his hair and the lines of his robes became yellow. He already seemed to glow with an alluring, metallic shine, but the big smile on his face made him ten times more beautiful. Marinette shook herself when she realized she was staring.

Chloe Bourgeois got sorted into Gryffindor after a comparatively brief stint on the stood. She proudly and happily strutted to her table as scarlet dripped down her robes.

When it was her turn, the hat blocked Alya’s vision and the hundreds of eyes staring at her. A rumbly voice spoke in her ears. Or was it directly into her mind?

“Mmmm, interesting, I sense fire in this one. Very brave, very stubborn, very noble. But you are a cunning one, as well; I sense great ambition in your heart.”

Alya’s chest clenched. _That sounds like a Slytherin thing. But you said brave..._

“Little fox, you would thrive in Slytherin or Gryffindor. You straddle a line of values. Ahh, I see you’re another Cesaire.”

_You remember sorting my sister?_

“And your father. You have their passion in your blood. You all are deeply magnanimous. But you, oh you’re so very clever and resourceful. I’m inclined to place you in Slytherin, if you have no objection...”

_...I don’t._

“Very well. Welcome to the house of SLYTHERIN!” The sorting hat shouted the last word to the whole hall and was lifted from her head. She slid off the stool and walked to the table applauding raucously. As she sat and older students shook her hand and patted her back, she watched in wonder as the trimmings of her robes shimmered and turned emerald green.

“Oh, yes, I know precisely where you belong.”

_Is it Gryffindor? _Marinette dreaded the notion of living in the same place as Chloe Bourgeois.

“I can see your dreams, young lady. You may look all sugary sweet to the outside world, but you’re scrappy. You hunger for your destiny.”

All this was news to Marinette, but she didn’t protest as the hat called out “SLYTHERIN!”

In a daze she found a seat next to Alya. She nudged her. “Girl that was fast. You wore the hat for maybe five, ten seconds?”

“It was very adamant I be sorted into Slytherin,” Marinette confused. “Yours took longer.”

Alya pinched her thumb and forefinger so they were a centimeter apart. “I was this close to joining the Gryffindors.”

Marinette smiled. “Well, I’m glad we’re in the same house.”

They watched as one by one the other first years got sorted. As Alya predicted, the sorting hat barely touched Nino’s head before it bellowed out _HUFFLEPUFF! _He scooted next to Adrien and gave him a big hug. _He looks good with yellow on his robes, _Alya thought.


End file.
